"The Sunday Five" is a loosely-titled piece where I talk about five NFL- or Browns-related topics related to this past week. In today's edition, we take a look at some positive news this past week, including the unveiling of the cover of Madden 2012, rookie participation in camp, and more.
The cover of Madden '12, featuring Cleveland running back Peyton Hillis, was released last week to positive reviews, at least among our fans. The cover of Madden did not start showcasing individual players until 2001. Since that time, 4 of the 12 covers have featured a running back, including this year's. The other three running backs to have been featured were Eddie George, Marshall Faulk, and Shaun Alexander. Former Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson was originally going to appear on a cover too, but he turned it down. Hillis is the type of player who never would have been a candidate for the cover of Madden if it had not come down to fan voting. He will be getting a lot more attention this season and it will be fun to see how he works out in the West Coast Offense.
The other big news of the week was rookie receiver Greg Little saying that he will participate in the Browns' next offensive minicamp, which is set to take place from June 9-11. The downside to this camp is that Joshua Cribbs will not be in attendance due to another commitment. I'm sure Little will be welcomed in by the likes of Colt McCoy and his college acquaintance, Mohamed Massaquoi, without a problem. I know Peyton Hillis took part in the first offensive minicamp, but I am not sure if he took place in the previous one.
When you are a free-agent type of player, what do you do? That is the type of situation that fullback Lawrence Vickers and wide receiver Chansi Stuckey are in. I am sure they would not mind being involved in a get-together, but for all they know it could be a waste if they are not re-signed. Likewise, if you are signed (like McCoy), do you want to waste time trying to build chemistry with a player who might not even be on the team?
Vickers gave a word of warning to the Browns' front office when he spoke to Tony Grossi the other day:
"I just hope I don't have to come to Cleveland in a different uniform because it's gonna be bad [for the Browns]," he said. "Those [Browns linebackers] are my guys. They know they will come with it and I will come with it. It's gonna be one of those all-time Cleveland games."
I'll end with a little bit of user trivia here: mooncamping, whose two year anniversary at DBN is coming up in about two weeks, finally found the "rec" button in the comments section this past week. Who was the first person to ever have their comment "rec'd" by mooncamping? The answer awaits you here. Speaking of recommended comments, emily took the time to go through and compile some of the recently recommended comments here in what could end up being a new feature on DBN.
Go Mavericks!